Clinton's Skimpy Executive Résumé

National Review Online: Democratic Candidate Is Relatively Ill-Equipped For The Presidency

(National Review Online)  This column was written by Deroy Murdock.

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The Yellow-billed Oxpecker stands atop the mighty rhinoceros, gobbling ticks and chirping loudly when danger looms. This tiny bird would make a perfect mascot for Senator Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid. Akin to that creature, the New York Democrat leaves tiny footprints and has spent more than three decades riding aboard her outsized, accomplished husband, William Jefferson Clinton.

And, like the Oxpecker, Hillary Clinton is remarkably unprepared for the presidency. Beyond helping to secure post-September 11 recovery funds for Gotham, her legislative achievements are rather slight. Lighter yet is her executive experience, which is measurable in grams.

While Clinton has been an outspoken liberal activist since the 1960s, she never has run a business, a city, a state, or a Cabinet department. She was a partner at Little Rock’s Rose Law Firm, but did not administer it. Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families aside, she headed none of the non-profits whose boards her website says she joined.

While she conducted President Clinton’s health reform task force in 1993, the plan it concocted in secret collapsed in public. This 1,368-page prescription for government medicine quietly vanished, sparing a Democratic Congress the embarrassment of euthanizing it.

Since her 2000 election, Clinton never has chaired a Senate committee. However, she does lead the Senate Superfund and Environmental Health Subcommittee. As its website explains, the panel oversees “recycling, Federal facilities and interstate waste.”

Clinton has presided over something. She commanded the Wellesley College Republicans in 1965, and then became student-government president.

Despite repeated requests, Clinton’s campaign did not identify the executive experiences that supposedly merit her presidency.

Conversely, Clinton’s Democratic rivals display relevant résumés.

Bill Richardson was elected New Mexico’s governor in 2002. He handles a $13.7 billion budget, guides 20,816 state workers, and serves 1.9 million constituents. He was a U.S. House member between 1982 and 1996. He also gained valuable global expertise as United Nations ambassador from 1996 to 1998. Under Presidents Clinton and G.W. Bush, Richardson has negotiated nuclear issues with North Korean generals and helped free American citizens, soldiers, and dissidents from Cuba, Iraq, and Sudan. As Energy secretary from 1998 to 2000, Richardson addressed Arab-oil dependency and nuclear non-proliferation, and maintained America’s atomic arsenal.

First elected in 1972, Delaware’s Joseph Biden chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and also directed it between 2001 and 2003.

Connecticut’s Chris Dodd, elected U.S. representative in 1974 and senator in 1980, chairs the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee.

Even far-Left eccentric Rep. Dennis Kucinich was Cleveland, Ohio’s one-term mayor, years before his 1996 House win.

Elected in 2004, former Harvard Law Review president Barack Obama’s credentials are limited. Nonetheless, the Illinois senator is 2008’s “fresh face” - a phrase rarely in the same sentence with Hillary Clinton.

Clinton’s Republican competitors offer considerable executive dexterity: Rudolph W. Giuliani was mayor of New York, America’s largest city, with 8 million people. Between 1994 and 2002, he managed budgets as high as $40 billion and as many as 222,836 employees, a payroll surpassed only by Uncle Sam’s and California’s. As U.S. attorney, Giuliani supervised 130 prosecutors and some 200 support staffers between 1983 and 1989. In 2002, he launched Giuliani Partners, a security consultancy that reportedly earned tens of millions in revenues.

Mitt Romney founded Bain Capital, a prosperous enterprise, before becoming Massachusetts’ one-term governor in 2002. His final $36 billion budget funded 43,979 personnel who aided 6.4 million citizens.

Mike Huckabee was Arkansas’s governor between 1996 and 2006. His final, $15.6 billion budget financed 29,151 staffers who covered 2.8 million Arkansans.

Arizona Senator John McCain was a decorated Navy pilot and Vietnam-era POW before his 1982 U.S. House victory. He was elected senator in 1986 and has chaired the committees on Commerce and Indian Affairs.

To Clinton’s credit, she represented America as First Lady in 82 countries, perhaps her most pertinent duty. This may qualify her for secretary of State, a position she could execute with energy and discipline.

However, facing a $2.9 trillion federal budget and 5,120,688 civilian and military employees, Hillary Clinton is ill-equipped to become president of the United States, commander-in-chief of the U.S. armed forces, and leader of the free world. Her executive experience is lighter than a fistful of feathers.

[jncc1701]

I am not a supporter of any candidate yet but I find the article amusing given the godawful management mess created by our first MBA president.
IF an Ivy League MBA can''t get it done - what will :) The Republic is doomed!

[alanrobisch]

That being said, she''''s not my particular choice for the nomination, but in fairness, there is no doubt about her abilities to run a campaign or to run this government. Posted by Quatrops at 01:04 AM : Nov 21, 2007

I think you forgot her husband and I thoroughly disagree she has come up with new ideas. Her chief advantages is being a democrat and being a women. there will be many women who may not like her or who agree with most of her policies but will vote for her simply because she is a women. If she is our first women as president she will have set a bad pecedent. I have just read a oped peace by maureen dowd quite critical of her aministrative ability. Maureen dowd as you may know is a liberal columnist who writes for the NYT. In fact she calls her ascent to power as nepotism not accomplishment

[ica2101]

Mr. Murdock:

I raise my cap to you and CBS for bringing the fact that Hillary Clinton does not really, have the experience she has purposefully been deceiving the American people to believe she has, for the presidency.

However, albeit, more research on your and CBS''part would have revealed Sen. Obama''s experience in Civil Rights/Community Development in Chicago, and his years of experience as State Sen. in Illinois. Did you and CBS purposefully, leave out this information? You should have included these information in Sen. Obama''s resume, given that you mentioned Hillary Clinton''s employment with the Rose Law Firm in Arkansas.

Ignatius Anyanwu
California

[quatrops]

To answer Robisch''s question: Hillary Clinton put forth ideas that resonated with the public. She put together and supervised a staff. She found ways to energiize millions of campaign volunteers.

With all of the above, she got herself a virtual lock on the Democratic nonination. That sounds like "executive ability" to me! Have any hopeful Republicans done that?

That being said, she''s not my particular choice for the nomination, but in fairness, there is no doubt about her abilities to run a campaign or to run this government.

[kansas1946]

Akin to that creature, the New York Democrat leaves tiny footprints and has spent more than three decades riding aboard her outsized, accomplished husband, William Jefferson Clinton.
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Oh yeah. Well, your hero, George W Bush, spent four decaded riding aboard the outsized accomplisments of his daddy. That guy was so no presidential material that is was laughable. So if Hillaries mascot is an Oxpecker, Baby Bush''s should be a tape worm. At least the Oxpecker is beneficial to the ox.

[denn034]

Skimpy says it all.

[alanrobisch]

think Ms. Clinton''''s years speak as well for her as anybody elses. There is no refresher course for a job where there is only one like it in the world.

Go Hillary! Sic ''''em!




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Posted by RowdyTexan2 at 01:29 PM : Nov 20, 2007

Yes the others have had more leadership positions than she has your dismissal of all the others is simply partisan rhetoric especially about mItt romney and Gulliani. both have had sinificantly more experience. Giulliani has shown great ability in turning around NYc which was an extraordinary challenge. support ho you wish but prove why she''s better not just by dismissing the others

[tibu987]

noloyalisti............
Precisely, re-read your message and then think why we should not support Hillary. Yes, Bush had little experience, duh!
Gimme a break.

[newz4i]

The only comment Republicans make is attack Libs, Dems, et cetera. They don''t have anything to shout hurray about because THEIR ownership over the last seven years was a garbage dump of failures. American entered the 21st Century attacked by an enemy, however Republicans used enemies abroad as a vehicle to search for fear within...an us verses them debacle. Voters across the country positively changed our direction of "stay the course" in 2006. Stop Republicans'' feeble attempts of charging toward an apocalypse and vote more Repubs out in 2008. The GOP''s vision was clouded by imaginary (g)ods of the Religious Right. GOPers want to have a "born again" American. America was born right the first time. Let''s move forward with the American values that made this country great. Stand up against the Republican Party.

[noloyalisti]

It takes a lot of nerve to start talking about Hillary''s experience or any other candidate for that matter.

Here we have a current president whose only experience in every endeavor was a failure. His lack of experience allowed him to hire a huge number of ignorant bumbling cabinet and other positions.

His experience has allowed him to gut the military and budget, and start neocon wars of conquest based on a government conspiracy on 911. All of which were completely planned by these "religious" anti-government conservatives.

And we are talking about Hillary''s lack of experience. Oh my god.